Help Get Women Medication Abortions - Please Spread the Word

Medication abortions may be all they can access.

Here are some sites which will help:

For searching:  Plan C Guide https://www.plancpills.org/ – Select your state from the list, press Search, and then the results show you a number of online providers along with details such as price, delivery time, etc.

Some specific online providers include:

• Abortion on Demand (https://abortionondemand.org/)
• Aid Access (https://aidaccess.org/en/)
• Carafem (https://carafem.org/)
• Choix (https://choixhealth.com/)
• Hey Jane (https://www.heyjane.co/)
• Pills by Post (https://pillsbypost.com/)

If you would like an update of the situation in each State, see the Article in Ms Magazine which was last updated on July 7^th

https://msmagazine.com/2022/07/07/abortion-legal-state-laws/?omhide=true&utm_medium=email&utm_source=everyaction&emci=e817ff3c-e0fe-ec11-b47a-281878b83d8a&emdi=94694453-09ff-ec11-b47a-281878b83d8a&ceid=930232

Hang in there sisters… it is going to be a long fight but we will get our rights back.

Know Your Rights: Reproductive Health Care

See: https://reproductiverights.gov/

Democratic ads on abortion rights have flooded the airwaves in the days after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. 

Since the Dobbs decision was issued last Friday, $4 million has been spent on abortion ads — a total of 56 unique ads and 8,900 airings, according to AdImpact. The vast majority of spots are from Democrats angered at the decision while Republicans have stayed relatively quiet on the issue.

In competitive Senate, House and gubernatorial races, Democrats and pro-abortion rights groups are leaning into the court’s decision as a way to motivate voters in November. Here’s a sampling of the major pro-abortion rights messaging Americans saw on their television screens this past week.

Senate races

→ Pennsylvania: Planned Parenthood Votes is attacking Mehmet Oz’s abortion stances as “too extreme for Pennsylvania” in a new spot. Planned Parenthood says it will spend up to $3 million on this ad buy.

→ New Hampshire: As we reported Thursday morning, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) released a direct-to-camera ad vowing to fight back against attempts to institute a national abortion ban.

Emily’s List also ran an ad praising Hassan for “working for a federal law to protect a woman’s right to make her own personal decisions.”

→ Wisconsin: Planned Parenthood Action Fund ripped Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) for calling for overturning Roe. An ad from the group accuses Johnson of “putting our health and reproductive rights in danger.”

→ Nevada: A spot from Women Vote! PAC highlighted GOP Senate candidate Adam Laxalt’s anti-abortion rights stances. “He’s coming after our freedom. We need to tell him no,” the spot concludes.

→ Washington: Sen. Patty Murray’s (D-Wash.) campaign seized on the Dobbs decision to draw attention to Murray’s likely general election opponent Tiffany Smiley’s past statements where she identified as “100% pro-life.”

House races

→ Nevada’s 3rd District: Incumbent Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) is in one of the tightest reelection campaigns of any House Democrat. Her campaign quickly put out an ad contrasting Lee with GOP opponent April Becker on abortion rights.

“April Becker — threatening every woman’s right to choose. Exactly why we need Susie Lee, endorsed by Planned Parenthood. Lee will protect our right to choose — always,” the ad says.

→ Washington’s 8th District: Frontline Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) released a new ad after the Dobbs decision where she spoke directly to camera on abortion rights. Here’s Schrier:

“As a doctor, my oath is to protect patients. As your congresswoman, my oath is to protect your rights. Now that the court has overturned Roe, Congress must protect a woman’s right to choose.”

Gubernatorial races

→ Illinois: Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s campaign is attacking GOP candidate Darren Bailey for his anti-abortion rights views. Plus, the Pritzker campaign also released an ad featuring Illinois women applauding Pritzker’s actions codifying a right to abortion in the state.

→ Connecticut: Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont also is out with an ad arguing Connecticut has “the strongest protections for a woman’s right to choose” in the country.

Nationwide Campaign To Create an Abortion Sanctuary Network

Starts in New York

6/23/2022 by Carrie N. Baker

Women rally for reproductive rights in Terryville, N.Y., on May 14, 2022. (J. Conrad Williams Jr. / Newsday RM via Getty Images)

Faced with the likely end of Roe v. Wade, reproductive rights advocates are seeking to create a nationwide sanctuary network for abortion services by passing interlocking legislation in blue states to ensure every American can safely access legal abortion services.

In May, New York Assemblymember Charles Lavine introduced the Geraldine Santoro Act to help women from states banning abortion to travel to New York and obtain abortion healthcare.

“The Santoro Act is the first step toward creating a nationwide sanctuary network for women in need and the first-ever private-public partnership to build a war chest to ensure reproductive autonomy,” said Lavine when he introduced the bill.

The bill is named after Geraldine Santoro, who died from an unsafe abortion in 1964. A police photograph of her dead body, published in Ms. magazine in 1973, became a symbol of the abortion rights movement in the United States.

The legislation would establish an office within the New York Department of Health that would create a nonprofit corporation to administer the program with a $15 million appropriation. The nonprofit would facilitate travel arrangements, lodging and medical appointments for women who need them, and pay the costs where eligible. The law encourages the nonprofit to enter into pacts with other states that enact similar laws so states can pool their resources, serve the greatest number of patients and use their funds in the most efficient manner. The goal is that patients “can be treated in the least disruptive and most compassionate manner, with the least amount of travel.”

Supporters of the bill hope for passage of replica Santoro acts in state legislatures across the country.

“What we’re talking about is the departments of health in all of these states coming together and forming an umbrella group to run the infrastructure,” said attorney Jim Walden, who drafted the legislation and is a managing partner at Walden, Macht & Haran. “That’s important to make sure that the application process is easy, accessible and well known, and that it happens quickly, especially for those women that are in crisis, so that they can get accurate information and get immediate attention and services.”

The law encourages the nonprofit to enter into pacts with other states that enact similar laws so states can pool their resources, serve the greatest number of patients and use their funds in the most efficient manner.

Walden, who is leading the fundraising efforts directed at private philanthropists for a new abortion access fund, explained how the process would work.

“We need the departments of health from all of the sanctuary states to come together and adopt a common application, available in every language imaginable, on a central website. The steering committee of all of these different states would administer the program and there’d be staff. They would all then have a set of policies, procedures and protocols that were understood and well known within this multistate agency,” said Walden.

The bill provides for a fast-track option in which applicants for financial assistance receive notice of the determination on their application within 48 hours of the application’s receipt.

Walden also says that states would have a “concerted fundraising effort and compacts between the states. They would have contracts with airlines and with national hotels, and individual contracts with abortion providers and other professionals, so that there’s high quality services at the lowest possible cost. All that infrastructure needs to be built,” Walden told Ms.

Another section of the act replicates the Texas bounty hunter law in reverse, creating a right for anyone to bring a civil action against any person who obstructs, impedes or hinders any woman from exercising the right to abortion, any medical professional who provides abortions or abortion-related services to any woman, or anyone who aids or abets any action interfering with access to abortion. Courts can award successful plaintiffs damages in an amount of not less than $50,000 for each abortion the defendant obstructed in violation of the law, as well as attorneys’ fees.

WHAT CAN BIDEN DO TO UNDO THE SUPREME COURT DECISION ON ABORTION?

The response is not much unfortunately.

Read this article to find out more:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/27/nominal-ways-president-biden-could-expand-abortion-rights/?utm_campaign=wp_the_5_minute_fix&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_fix&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3738304%2F62ba21a2cfe8a21601c5acde%2F59751be19bbc0f1cdcff4655%2F24%2F45%2F62ba21a2cfe8a21601c5acde&wp_cu=7c603548b5b3e2cef7107820d431b439%7C37D5371283F003A1E0530100007F8E39

The Fight Goes on!

https://msmagazine.com/2022/06/21/doctors-supreme-court-roe-v-wade-decision/?omhide=true&utm_medium=email&utm_source=everyaction&emci=dfd9a260-a5f1-ec11-b47a-281878b83d8a&emdi=c404263f-2bf2-ec11-b47a-281878b83d8a&ceid=930232

READ THE NEW OKLAHOMA LAW

1. The terms “abortion” and “unborn child” shall have the same
   meaning as provided by Section 1-730 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma
   Statutes; ...
2. “Medical emergency” means a condition which cannot be
   remedied by delivery of the child in which an abortion is necessary
   to preserve the life of a pregnant woman whose life is endangered by
   a physical disorder, physical illness or physical injury including a
   life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the
   pregnancy itself.

B. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person
shall not purposely perform or attempt to perform an abortion except
to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency.

2. A person convicted of performing or attempting to perform an
abortion shall be guilty of a felony punishable by a fine not to
exceed One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), or by confinement
in the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term not to
exceed ten (10) years, or by such fine and imprisonment.

3. This section does not:

a. authorize the charging or conviction of a woman with
any criminal offense in the death of her own unborn
child, or
b. prohibit the sale, use, prescription or administration
of a contraceptive measure, drug or chemical if the
contraceptive measure, drug or chemical is
administered before the time when a pregnancy could be
determined through conventional medical testing and if
the contraceptive measure, drug or chemical is sold,
used, prescribed or administered in accordance with
manufacturer instructions.

4. It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this
section if a licensed physician provides medical treatment to a
pregnant woman which results in the accidental or unintentional
injury or death to the unborn child.

"For many Americans, Roe already feels meaningless. Nearly 90 percent of U.S. counties lack a clinic that offers abortions." Read in the Atlantic

Illegal abortions in the form of DIY kits. This is what the future of reproductive health looks like if we don't have the protections in place to provide safe methods for abortion.

Join the DA GWC Reproductive Justice team: send an email to:

[email protected]

IF WE DO NOTHING, WE WILL ALL HAVE TO RESORT TO USING THIS METHOD!

Read this article from the Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/roe-v-wade-overturn-abortion-rights/629366/

MORE (BAD)  NEWS

See this video re a Kentucky anti-choice bill coming from a women doctor and Kentucky State senator:

https://twitter.com/karenforky/status/1505243184263225356?s=20&t=DsWMoXLlFvN3DfqQA46DYQ

Fight for our rights!!!

PLEASE PAY ATTENTION

The anti-choice fire is spreading like wildfire and women are going to die.

Now it is Oklahoma.

Here is a summary from the newsletter, the 19^th:

Oklahoma’s state House on Tuesday voted 78-19 to pass a near complete ban on abortions, legislation that far surpasses Texas’ six-week ban. The bill is now headed to the Senate and, if passed, will be the strictest anti-abortion bill in the country. 

The legislation — known as House Bill 4327 — bars a physician from performing or inducing an abortion at any point in the pregnancy unless it is “to save the life” of the pregnant person. Similar to Texas’ six-week abortion ban, the new legislation would allow private citizens to pursue civil actions of up to $10,000 against anyone who performs or “aids and abets in the provision of such an abortion.” Lawmakers added an emergency clause for timing so that if the bill is signed into law, it would take effect immediately.

“Abortion rights activists have been warning of this nightmare for months: These bounty hunter laws will have a domino effect across the country, as more and more states ban abortion entirely while Roe v. Wade is still the law of the land,” Elisabeth Smith, director of state policy and advocacy for the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. 

See our video project to stop this insanity: American Women Need Your Help Now!

The United Nations Commission the Status of Women has partnered with a great organization for Reproductive Freedom: Partners for Reproductive Justice who say

“We believe in a world where every person has bodily autonomy and can determine their own future.”

I encourage you to visit their super website here https://www.ipas.org/ourwork/

We need to keep at it in the United States. Make a video for us to encourage voters to vote for reproductive freedom.

Deaths during pregnancy and the first six weeks after childbirth increased, especially for Black and Hispanic women, according to a new report in the New York Times.

The number of women in the United States who died during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth increased sharply during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study, an increase that health officials attribute partly to Covid and pandemic-related disruptions.

The new report, from the National Center for Health Statistics, found that the number of maternal deaths rose 14 percent, to 861 in 2020 from 754 in 2019.

This catastrophe is the result of the state laws exterminating our right to reproductive freedom and good medical treatment during pregnancy

The Senate must pass the Women’s Health Protection Act. It is coming to a vote on February 28^th. Call your Senator and make sure he or she knows how important this is to all women but particularly poor and minority women.

The GWC Reproductive Justice Team has  launched a project to promote voter registration
and ACTION under the theme Reproductive Justice for ALL.

As you certainly know, the rights of all women to choose when and if to start a family have been taken away by the Supreme Court when it overruled Roe vs Wade.

As a result, over 26 states prohibiting or restricting the right to abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy even in the cases of rape, incest and the mother’s and/or the  fetus’ health. Texas has empowered vigilantes to sue everyone and anyone aiding and abetting abortion once the fetal heartbeat can be heard, i.e. at approximately 6 weeks and before most women know they are pregnant. Every day there are over 200 bills in the red state legislatures taking away our rights and making women into criminals.

Now that the Republicans have taken the House, we must fight for Federal Protection of Our Reproductive Freedom

Our project is a video launch via YouTube. We continue to ask all DA members to make a short (60 second) video explaining why the right to abortion is absolutely necessary. If you come from a state where it is practically impossible to obtain an abortion, you can speak about the discrimination against minority and poor women whose lives are in jeopardy and who cannot travel. If you come from “good states” such as MA, CA, or NY, you can speak to the injustice of access depending upon where you live. Make sure you mention in the video VotefromAbroad.org for expat voter registration and vote.gov for non-expat voter registration.

The fight now is in the red state legislatures and we will push our videos out there to counter the misinformation about medication abortion and our rights.

Here are a few subjects that you could choose for your video:

• If you live/vote in a country that has “good” reproductive freedom laws, you could refer to the country and the liberal law(s) and how lucky you are to be in that country and how unfair it is for American women LIVING IN THE US who can’t benefit from such laws.

• If you live/vote in a US state that has good reproductive freedom laws, see above, you can say that living in a “bad” state is discriminatory since women in “good “US states have rights that you are denied.

• You can share a personal experience. You don’t have to use your name or even mention where you live. The videos will be anonymous unless you do give details.
• You can make a statement that women should have the right to control their bodies. Period. There is no justification for the government to decide when, how  or even if women should have children.

If you can’t think of anything to say but still want to make a video, feel free to contact Salli at [email protected]. She will set up a call, walk you through some ideas and help you make the video.

For more information, visit our blog space here:

https://www.democratsabroad.org/wc_reproductive_justice_action_team

All videos should be sent to Salli Swartz at [email protected]

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR EFFORTS TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN

Disclaimer: By submitting your video, you grant to Democrats Abroad nonexclusive rights to use your video and your image only for the 2023 GWC Reproductive Justice Get Out the Vote video project. 

You therefore hereby waive all rights to any claims arising out of or in connection with Democrats Abroad GWC’s use of your video and image in connection with the 2022 Reproductive Justice video project.

Reproductive Rights - See what is happening all over the world and how the United States is punishing its women.

A new report by the Center for Reproductive Rights analyzes the legal influence of six landmark cases before international and regional human rights bodies that have established lasting legal protections for reproductive autonomy—not only in the countries where the decisions were rendered, but across borders and regions. Read more...

Join the Democrats Abroad Global Women’s Caucus Reproductive Rights Action Team at https://www.democratsabroad.org/wc_reproductive_justice_action_team

May 2022 bring us women’s health guarantees including contraception and abortions for all who want them.

The Reproductive Justice Action Team is continuing to have monthly webex meetings to discuss the dire state of anti-choice legislation and the SCOTUS Mississippi case.

The situation is going from bad to worse as the States are gearing up “trigger” laws that will go into effect automatically and which will make abortion of any kind whenever, if the Supreme Court overrules Roe v Wade.

And the Women’s Health Protection Act which, if passed, would make abortion legal with some restrictions is stuck in the Senate with no real visibility of when a vote will take place.

So, taking all of that into account, we have decided to try to make a video aimed at voters in States where we need people to register and vote to change the legislative landscape on anti-choice.

We are looking for volunteers who can do a short 60 second video, explaining why they feel it is imperative that women have the right to decide. Below you will find the links to volunteer and a link on how to make a video.

The more the merrier. Our wonderful Angela Fobbs is going to help us edit the videos and make the clips into a YouTube worthy film. The more videos we get the more we can saturate the media in the States that will make a difference.

So please volunteer and be in touch.

Here is the form  to fill out if you want to make a video: https://forms.gle/z4msJHR36fA7HTsv5

Here are the instructions on how to make the video: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1O7wGPrZmmXocOuMI5zZutc1w62nHlQWZOat8Srq_bFQ/edit?usp=sharing

You can also join  our next call. All you have to do is send us an email at [email protected] and we will get you the call in info.

We really want to make this a ballbuster video…to get people motivated to register to vote and then VOTE the bastards out of office.

Stay optimistic and safe

Salli, Chair of the GWC Reproductive Justice Action Team

The DA Global Women’s Caucus mobilized for reproductive justice and freedom on October 2nd

along with thousands of women worldwide.

Don’t let the Supreme Court overturn Roe. We must fight for our rights!!

The October 2^nd Reproductive Freedom marches were a huge success.

These are two great articles from Ms Magazine with pictures from the Marches (to which we have added our own UK WC pictures)

https://msmagazine.com/2021/10/04/signs-womens-march-texas-abortion-ban-roe-v-wade-reproductive-rights/?omhide=true&em

And read about the powerful Congressional testimony here:

https://msmagazine.com/2021/10/01/ten-powerful-moments-from-this-weeks-unprecedented-congressional-hearings-on-abortion/?omhide=true&emci=b7ff2248-5825-ec11-981f-501ac510a405&emdi=4621036e-5e25-ec11-981f-501ac510a405&ceid=930232

GWC WHPA Week   Activist Kit       September 13th-20th

WHPA Week

The dual assault from the Texas State legislature and the Supreme Court on women’s rights, our physical and mental health, and bodily autonomy cannot go unanswered. We must contest SB 8 which prohibites abortion after 6 weeks, before most women know they are pregnant. The Supreme Court’s refusal to block this law signals that we can no longer depend on the Supreme Court or any courts to protect our rights. 

The only way to protect our reproductive rights is to ensure that the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) of 2021 is enacted as law. It comes up for a vote in the House on September 20th. We must put pressure on our Congressional representatives to vote YES on WHPA! Therefore, the GWC is kicking off WHPA Week campaign today! 

Calls to Action 

We are asking Democrats Abroad to do two things:

1. Call and/or email your reps the week of September 13th-20th
2. Participate in a Tweet storm on September 20th at 9am EST/2pm BST

Materials

1. Call Script: I am an American residing abroad and a voting constituent from [your state]. I am calling on [NAME OF MEMBER] to vote in favor of the Women’s Health Protection Act. This Act is vital as it will protect women and their reproductive health. It will legalize, on a Federal level, abortion as essential to women’s healthcare. Passing WHPA will effectively overrule all of the heinous anti-choice State laws and any negative SCOTUS ruling on Roe v Wade. Because we have a majority of Supreme Court justices who reportedly do not support a women’s right to have an abortion, even in cases of rape and incest, it important to act now. Without that essential protection we will continue to see a stripping of access to abortion and reproductive health care in Republican-controlled states.  [NAME OF MEMBER] has the power to continue to create progress in our country for ALL. Be on the right side of history.  

(If your Representative has cosponsored WHPA, you can also thank the office for their support of this legislation.)

• Twitter Message: Please tweet storm in solidarity with the GWC on September 20th at 9am EST/2pm BST using the following messages, hashtags and graphics. Tag your representatives to get their attention.

• Our civil liberties and reproductive rights continue to be threatened every day. Get your #BansOffOurBodies. Pass the #WHPA now. #ActForAbortionAccess, vote yes and protect #RoevWade! #defendabortion

• Each day that the #WomensHealthProtectionAct is not passed, people seeking abortion care are losing their constitutional rights as established by Roe v Wade all over the U.S. We must urge our Congress to take action now and pass #WHPA. #BansOffOurBodies

• Dear [@Senator or Representative’s Social Media Handle], listen to your voters and pass the #WomensHealthProtectionAct!  

Follow the Global Women’s Caucus for more WHPA Week content: